Washing-machine



L w. SEII-E-RT; WASHING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED MAR-27, 1920 Patented Apr. 5, 1921.1

2 SHEETSSHEET l- J. W, SEIFERT. WASHINGv MACHINE. APPLICATION men MAR. 27, 1920 1,373,91 7. Patented Apr 5, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

" clamping rod at the opposite side JoEN w. SEIFER'I', or nous'rolv, TEXAS. 7'

V To aZZ w ham it may concern:

Be it known that I, JoHnW; SnIrERT, a citizen of the United States, residin at Houston, in the county of Harms and tate of Texas, have invented new and useful Improvements in W ashing Machines, of

which the following is' a specification. i

'This invention relates to washing machines, and one of its objects is to :provide a washing machine whereby individual pieces of" goods may be washed, similar to hand-washing, but withv greater speed and also with other material advantages over the ordinary hand-washlng process.

Another object of the invention is to pro-1' vide a washingmachine which gives a gentle but highly eflicient 'rubbingaction on the goods, which rubbing action may be controlled to a nicety by the operator, and

which afiords a greater extent of rubbing surface than is possible with the use of the ordinary wasliboard in. hand-washing.

A still further objecthof the invention is to provide a washing machine which is simple and inexpensive in construction, compactand capable of being clampedupon the side of anordinary wash-.tub,,andeconomical in theluse of soap and water.

The invention consists of the features of construction, combination and arrangement 'of parts, hereinafter fully described and claimed, reference beinghad to the accom panying drawings, in whichze my invention. J

' Fig. p taken centrally through the 'machine.

Fig. 8 is a detail section on the hue 8- of Fig. 1-. I

Fig. dis a detail view: showing the hinged tening meansfor the free end of the'goods V of, the

drum or cylinder..

' Fig. 6 is a'detail view showing aifeature of construction. c r V -In the practical embodiment of my "invention I-provide a washing machine having a frame structure includlng a base on bottom bar 1, standardsor uprights 2rising therefrom, and an upper or pressure bar 3 extending between the upper ends of: said uprights and connected'thereto as herein- 2 is a "vertical transverse section,

WASHING-MACHINE.

Specification of Lettersl atent." 1 te ted p 5 7 2 c J Application filed, March 27, .1920. Serial No. 369,288.. l i 1 i t after described. The, standardsiare pro v vided with suitable bearingsfor'a horizon:-

tal shaft'i provided at the front end there- I said shaft for movementgtherewith between] the standards 2, said cylinder or drum come ,prising va pair of end disksorheads 7 fixed g r tothe "shaft and a body covering 8.,of woven wire 'or. other suitable perforateflor reticu lated material; The material 8 formsthe cylindrical body;v portion of the drum, per

mittingof the circulation of the suds; water there through, slots oropenings Q'being pro-, vided' in the end'heads'7, adjacent to their;-

peripheries, to permit the-water to flow outwardly. at the ends therofQ The wire cloth or body of reticulated mav freely from end to end ofthe d'rum and 'terial 8 forms the rubbing surface of the drum, and the edges of thismaterial are tape or other suitable material are prefertacked or; otherwise suitably fastened to the heads 7. Protecting strips 10, of'metallic ably secured over-the edges of the wire cloth, .so as to cover'ythe same and form smooth surfaces at the ends of the rubbing;

' surfaceflto prevent liability of injury to the goods or clothesbeingwashed' Inpractice, the machine may be employed for cleansing single pieces of goods at a time, similar'tofl hand-washing, and provision is madekfor, p [securing the article at one ofits corners Figure 1 is a front'elevation of awash-1'. ing' machine constructed in accordance with;

or at a suitably restricted point to the surface of; the drum. To .thisiend the drum is providedat one end in its circumference,

'With a longitudinal groove 11, to receive the portion of the articleto beSecured, a'clamping rod 12' being provided to. clamp such portion of the article in' position. Thisgrod 12. is hinged at one vend, as'indicatedat 13, V V to wone ofthe end heads of the drum, and

a pivoted latch 14 is providedfupon the opposite head of the drumto engage-the in the groove 1.1'infclampingiposition. ;The

o, 0 free end of the rod-and hold the rod seated will be. disposed at the forward. portioniof, the cylinder in positionfor-the ready and,

convenient clamping or'release of the goods.

Provided for cooperation with the drum orcylinder 6' is; substantially semi-circular ru ing eam his ar ans ds as 9 substantially surround the lower half of the cylinder 6, and comprises a semi-cylindrical curved strip of corrugated sheet metal or like flexible or resilient material, perfora- 7 and rear of the cylinder, while the bands 18 are arrangedin suitably spaced relation and are premanently, connected with the rods and extend around the bed'15. As shown,

the corrugated metal'bed 15 has itslongitudinal edges bent to form eyes 19 which embrace the rods 17 and the bands 18 are provided with similareyes 20 which embrace the rods, the connections described affording a ainst the rubbing surface a suflicient pivotal engagement between the parts mentioned to permit the bed and bandsto flex freely so that the bed may bear g of the cylinder G'With greater or less force; I

Spring hangers 21 are provlded for yieldingly supporting the cradle and bed from the standards or uprights 2. Each of these hangers comprises a spring metal band having' a substantially straight central portion 22 and curved or bent end portions 23. The

straight central portions 22 of the spring hangers rest upon the upper ends of the strndards 2 andare held in clamping en- 7 the curved ends '23 of: said hangers are,

gagement therewith by the uppercross bar or pressure bar3, while the extremities or formed witheyes 24cwhich pivotally engage the ends of the rods 17 whereby the bed 15 and its supporting cradle are resiliently suspended fromthe standards 2 by thehanger springs.

The bar3 ispreferably of channeled form 'and has its flanges 25 downwardly directed i and'arranged to bear against the straight ends of the standardsb'y angular brackets central portions 22 of the hanger springs 21 on opposite sides of the standards 2, and said bar 3 is adjustably secured to the upper 26, said brackets having their depending portions provided with slots 27 for the, pas-.-

. sage of fastening screws 28 or the like,

whereby the bar 3 is slidably connected with the standards and may be fixed whenever desired in adjusted position. The endsof the bar 3 are perforated for the passa e of screws 29 provided with adjusting nuts 30,

said screws passing downwardly through i openings in the central portions 22 of the hanger springs 21 and having heads 31' 6O seated in sockets in the upper ends of the standards 2, whe'reby,through adwstments ofthenuts 30,the flanges 25 may becaused to bear with greateror less pressure upon the portions 22 of the hanger springs on opposite sides ofthe standards 2. Through desired.

the adjusting and fastening connections described it will be readily understood that by varying the pressure of the bar 3 on the.

hanger springs 21 the up pulling pressure on the ends 23 of said springs upon the bed 15 may be regulated, to vary the rubbing pressureof'the bed 15 against the surface of the cylinder 6 accordingly. This follows from the fact that when downward pressure upon the hanger springs 21 is exerted; by theflanges 25, the intermediate portions of'the y hanger springswill be flattened to a greater? extent, thus tending to force the curved ends 23 outwardly and to decrease theirarc' of curvature, resulting in an upward spring pull upon the edges ofthe bed 15, whereby said bed is drawn with reater' force towardthe surface of the cylin er 6. A relaxation of'the pressure of the flanges 25 on the 'central portions of the spring hangers 21, on thecontrary, will allow such portions to as-. sumea slight arc of curvature, thus increasing the arc'of curvature of the curved ends. 23 and allowing the same toelongate, thus relaxing the pressure ofthe bed il5-qon the '32 to hold the suds water or other cleansing I fluid, said pan being provided at its front V with a drain valve 33 whereby the suds water may bedrawn ofi' therefrom whenever The pan' is adapted tobe removably supported upon the'base bar 1 and'is properly formed to allow it to beinserted i and withdrawn at a'suitable angle withoutllo the necessity of disturbing any of the other I parts. .In practice this pan-is filled with suds water or othercleansing fluid upto a level suflicient to submerge the lower fpoi tions of the cylinder and bed disposed therein, sothat in the operation of the machine I there will be a constantrflowleof'water be-Q; tween the rubbing surfaces" to "effect the '7 IZLPlQl'ZtIICl-BfilClQDt cleansing of theqarticle i being washed. TheiWa-shing machine con 1'20 structed in acordance with mylinvention is very compact and may be supported for'use upon a stationary wash-tubnin a manner similar to that in which an ordinary wringer is supported, the bar 1 being provided with a clamp 34"whereby it maybepclamped-to the upper edge of one of the wallsvof a sta 7 tionary tub 35, as indicated in Figs; land 2. When so arranged the drain valve 33 may be disposed to overhang thesbody'of'the tub, to 1305 7 iso- 7 9o 1 surface of the cylinder 6; It will be under-i permit the water from the pan 32 to drain into the tub, so that soiled water may be allowed to constantly drain out of the pan and the latter replenished with clean water from time to time as may be required when the washing operation is carried on fora concylinder 6 by the clamping bar 12, and such article spread over the face of the drum,

so that in the rotation or oscillation of said drum the article will be brought between opposed rubbing surfaces of the drum and bed for a cleansing action. As the article is rubbed between such surfaces it will be subjected to the cleansing operation of therub bing action and the circulation of the water passing though the openings in the drum and bed, resulting in the rapid removal of the dirt and its drainage off into the pan 32. In the turning or revolving motions of the drum or cylinder the article will be periodically withdrawn from between the rubbing surfaces and at such times may be soa-ped and adjusted'over the face of the drum by the operator so as to insure the eX- posure of all portions of its surface to the succeeding rubbing actions. the bed bears resiliently against the face of the drum, the article to be cleansed will be held lightly pressed between the rubbing surfaces, and this pressure may be regulated as desired according to the fineness or coarseness of the fabric, so that goods of even the most delicate texture. may be rapidly and thoroughly cleansed without injury. If desired, the bar 3 may form a support for a soap tray or receptacle 37, allowing a cake of soap kept in convenient position for hand-soaping of the goods spread over the face of the drum. or

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim: V

1. A washing machine including a base, standards rising therefrom, a rotary rubhing drum supported by the standards, a foraminous concave rubbing bed of flexible material embracing the lower portion of the drum, springs centrally "mountedupon the uprights and having curved or bowed ends extending downwardlytherefrom and connected at their free ends with the edges of the rubbing bed on opposite sides of the rotary rubbing drum, and means adjustably mounted upon the uprights for engaging and regulating the bowing curvature of the ends of the springs so 'as to vary the drawing tension of such ends of the spring upon the concave rubbing bed. 1

Inasmuch as- 2. 'A washing machine including a base,

uprights :rising therefrom, a rotary rub- 'bing drum supported by theuprights,a fo

raminous concave rubbing bed of resilient material embracing the lower portion of the drum, springs centrally supported upon j V or bowed ends connected with the side edges r the uprights and having downwardly curved ofthe. rubbing bed at opposite sides of the drum, brackets adjustably connected withf the uprights, a pressure bar carried by said 7 brackets and arranged to'bear upon the springs on opposite sides of the uprights,

and means for adjusting said bar for varyl f ing the bowing curvature of the springs and the drawing tension thereof on the concave rubbing bed.

3. A washing machine including a base',

standards rising from the base, a shaft journaled on said standards, a foraminous drum carried by the shaft and provided with means for clamping an article thereto, .a cor-- rugatedconcave rubbing bed of resilient ma terial embracing the lower portion of the drum, spring hangers having central por-v tions resting on the uprights and curved or bowed end portions depending therefrom and attached to the upper edges of the bed, j

and means for exerting pressure upon the supported portions of the springs to regulate the. resilient drawing pressure of the .ends of the springs upon the edges of the,

bed. 7 V 4. A washing machine including arbase,

standards rising therefrom, a shaft jour naled on said standards,'aforaminous drum carried by the shaft and provided with article clamping means, a resilient corrugated concave rubbing bed embracing the lower portion of thedrum, rods to which the edges around the bed and secured to the rods, sus

pension springs mounted onthe uprights and permanently attached to the rods, and means for varying the tension of said springs.

ofthe bed are connected, bands extending V bing drum carried by the shaft,-a resilient :7

concave rubbing bed embracing the lower portion of the drum, hanger springs centrally supported upon the-upper portions of the uprights and having-curved or bowed end portions attached to the edgesof the bed, a pressure bar extending between the I I uprights and bearing upon the springs for varying the degree of bowing curvature of the ends of the springs to regulate thedrawing tension thereof, and means for adjust ing said bar. I

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

JOHN w. SEIFERT. 

